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Shandera WX. COVID-19 ethics: unique aspects and a review as of early 2024. Monash Bioeth Rev 2024:10.1007/s40592-024-00199-x. [PMID: 39003388 DOI: 10.1007/s40592-024-00199-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/11/2024] [Indexed: 07/15/2024]
Abstract
COVID-19 presents a variety of ethical challenges in a set of arenas, arenas not always considered in past pandemics. These challenges include issues related to autonomy, distributive ethics, and the establishment of policies of equity and justice. Methods are a literature review based on regular editing of an online textbook during the COVID-19 outbreak and a literature review using key ethical terms. Patients are confronted with new issues related to autonomy. Providers need to expand their concepts of ethical issues to include decisions based on proportionality and public health ethics. The public health sector needs to assess the beneficence of alternative modes of disease control. The research community needs to redefine the concept of informed consent in emergent conditions. All elements of the medical spectrum-physicians, scientists, and the community-at-large including the pharmaceutical industry-need to consider the multifaceted methods for preventing future pandemics. This will require giving particular emphasis to public health funding and ending the documented discrimination that exists in the provision of proven therapies. The developing world is especially at risk for most of the ethical issues, especially those related to equity and justice. The ethical issues associated with the COVID-19 outbreak are not unique but provide a diverse set of issues that apply to patients, providers, social groups, and investigators. The further study of such issues can help with preventing future outbreaks.
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Piquer-Rodríguez M, Friis C, Andriatsitohaina RNN, Boillat S, Roig-Boixeda P, Cortinovis C, Geneletti D, Ibarrola-Rivas MJ, Kelley LC, Llopis JC, Mack EA, Nanni AS, Zaehringer JG, Henebry GM. Global shocks, cascading disruptions, and (re-)connections: viewing the COVID-19 pandemic as concurrent natural experiments to understand land system dynamics. LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY 2023; 38:1147-1161. [PMID: 37051136 PMCID: PMC9977478 DOI: 10.1007/s10980-023-01604-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 01/28/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Context For nearly three years, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted human well-being and livelihoods, communities, and economies in myriad ways with consequences for social-ecological systems across the planet. The pandemic represents a global shock in multiple dimensions that has already, and is likely to continue to have, far-reaching effects on land systems and on those depending on them for their livelihoods. Objectives We focus on the observed effects of the pandemic on landscapes and people composing diverse land systems across the globe. Methods We highlight the interrelated impacts of the pandemic shock on the economic, health, and mobility dimensions of land systems using six vignettes from different land systems on four continents, analyzed through the lens of socio-ecological resilience and the telecoupling framework. We present preliminary comparative insights gathered through interviews, surveys, key informants, and authors' observations and propose new research avenues for land system scientists. Results The pandemic's effects have been unevenly distributed, context-specific, and dependent on the multiple connections that link land systems across the globe. Conclusions We argue that the pandemic presents concurrent "natural experiments" that can advance our understanding of the intricate ways in which global shocks produce direct, indirect, and spillover effects on local and regional landscapes and land systems. These propagating shock effects disrupt existing connections, forge new connections, and re-establish former connections between peoples, landscapes, and land systems. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10980-023-01604-2.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Cecilie Friis
- Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - R. Ntsiva N. Andriatsitohaina
- Department of Forestry and Environment, School of Agronomy Sciences, University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar
| | - Sébastien Boillat
- Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Zollikofen, Switzerland
- Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Paula Roig-Boixeda
- Frankfurt Zoological Society, Bernhard-Grzimek-Allee 1, 60316 Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
- Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain
| | - Chiara Cortinovis
- Department of Geography, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Davide Geneletti
- Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | | | - Lisa C. Kelley
- Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Denver, Denver, CO USA
| | - Jorge C. Llopis
- School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, UK
- Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Elizabeth A. Mack
- Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI USA
| | - Ana Sofía Nanni
- Instituto de Ecología Regional and Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e IML, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina
| | - Julie G. Zaehringer
- Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Wyss Academy for Nature at the University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Hallerstrasse 12, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Geoffrey M. Henebry
- Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences and Center for Global Change and Earth Observations, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI USA
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Guo X, Tu X, Huang G, Fang X, Kong L, Wu J. Urban greenspace helps ameliorate people's negative sentiments during the COVID-19 pandemic: The case of Beijing. BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT 2022; 223:109449. [PMID: 35937083 PMCID: PMC9339086 DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2022] [Revised: 06/30/2022] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has had negative effects on people's mental health worldwide, especially for those who live in large cities. Studies have reported that urban greenspace may help lessen these adverse effects, but more research that explicitly considers urban landscape pattern is needed to understand the underlying processes. Thus, this study was designed to examine whether the resident sentiments in Beijing, China changed before and during the pandemic, and to investigate what urban landscape attributes - particularly greenspace - might contribute to the sentiment changes. We conducted sentiment analysis based on 25,357 geo-tagged microblogs posted by residents in 51 neighborhoods. We then compared the resident sentiments in 2019 (before the COVID-19) with those in 2020 (during the COVID-19) using independent sample t-tests, and examined the relationship between resident sentiments and urban greenspace during the COVID-19 pandemic phases using stepwise regression. We found that residents' sentiments deteriorated significantly from 2019 to 2020 in general, and that urban sentiments during the pandemic peak times showed an urban-suburban trend that was determined either by building density or available greenspace. Although our analysis included several other environmental and socioeconomic factors, none of them showed up as a significant factor. Our study suggests the effects of urban greenspace and building density on residents' sentiments increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and that not all green spaces are equal. Increasing greenspace, especially within and near neighborhoods, seems critically important to helping urban residents to cope with public health emergencies such as global pandemics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuan Guo
- School of Natural Resources, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
- State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology (ESPRE), Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Xingyue Tu
- Institute of Environmental Information, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China
| | - Ganlin Huang
- School of Natural Resources, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
- State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology (ESPRE), Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Xuening Fang
- School of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, 200234, China
| | - Lingqiang Kong
- School of Natural Resources, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
- State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology (ESPRE), Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Jianguo Wu
- School of Life Sciences and School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA
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Bisgrove D. Zooscape ecology: a conceptual analysis of zoos and landscape ecology. LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY 2022; 37:1733-1745. [PMID: 35729942 PMCID: PMC9202967 DOI: 10.1007/s10980-022-01433-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2022] [Accepted: 03/13/2022] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
CONTEXT Zoos are a unique landscape with fascinating connections to the principles of landscape ecology. These 'zooscapes' have a focus on managing wild species. OBJECTIVES This article examines the multiple scales of zoos as urban green spaces, exhibit landscapes, and resources for resilience. I identify that landscape ecology can inform zoo evolution and note how zoos may provide a novel research site for landscape ecology. METHODS I provide a brief history of American zoos and insight into lingering questions within zoos, including their representations of animals and humans. Additionally, I note conceptual overlap between zoo design/function and landscape ecology literature. RESULTS Zoos provide habitat for native species and valued cultural ecosystem services. Zoo exhibits developed a landscape focus as modern landscape ecology emerged in the 1980s. Patches, corridors, and matrices exist within a zoo, and these facilities have value for the genetic support of fragmented populations. Zoos' strategies for disease management are increasingly relevant for global health. Simultaneously, zoos must exhibit sustainable landscapes, not just ecological simulacrums for threatened species. CONCLUSIONS Zoos must promote humanity's continued coexistence with other species. A landscape view is essential to achieving this goal. Zoos need to model sustainable landscapes of our present and future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Bisgrove
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281 USA
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Theodorou A, Panno A, Carrus G, Carbone GA, Massullo C, Imperatori C. Stay home, stay safe, stay green: The role of gardening activities on mental health during the Covid-19 home confinement. URBAN FORESTRY & URBAN GREENING 2021; 61:127091. [PMID: 35702591 PMCID: PMC9186381 DOI: 10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2020] [Revised: 03/03/2021] [Accepted: 03/11/2021] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
Social distancing and home confinement during the first wave of Covid-19 have been essential to helping governments to flatten the infection curve but raised concerns on possible negative consequences such as prolonged isolation or sedentary lifestyles. In this scenario, gardening activities have been identified as a plausible tool to buffer the mental health consequences of forced home confinement. In this paper, we investigate the relation between gardening and psychopathological distress during the lockdown of the first wave of Covid-19 in Italy. It is hypothesized that engagement in gardening activities promotes psychological health, through a reduction of Covid-related stress. An online survey was administered through sharing using social media to N = 303 participants during the March-May 2020 lockdown in Italy, measuring Covid-19 related distress, psychopathological distress, engagement in gardening activities plus a series of socio-demographic and residential covariates. As expected, a mediation model tested using a bootstrapping procedure showed that gardening is related to lower psychopathological distress through decreased Covid-19 related distress. Interestingly, results also showed that psychopathological distress was higher for women and unmarried respondents, and negatively associated with age and square meters per person at home. The theoretical and practical implications for social policies contrasting the Covid-19 pandemic are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annalisa Theodorou
- Department of Education, Experimental Psychology Laboratory, Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy
| | - Angelo Panno
- Department of Human Science, Cognitive and Clinical Psychology Laboratory, European University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Carrus
- Department of Education, Experimental Psychology Laboratory, Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Alessio Carbone
- Department of Human Science, Cognitive and Clinical Psychology Laboratory, European University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Chiara Massullo
- Department of Human Science, Cognitive and Clinical Psychology Laboratory, European University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Claudio Imperatori
- Department of Human Science, Cognitive and Clinical Psychology Laboratory, European University of Rome, Rome, Italy
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Ugolini F, Massetti L, Pearlmutter D, Sanesi G. Usage of urban green space and related feelings of deprivation during the COVID-19 lockdown: Lessons learned from an Italian case study. LAND USE POLICY 2021; 105:105437. [PMID: 35431392 PMCID: PMC8996370 DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2020] [Revised: 03/01/2021] [Accepted: 03/24/2021] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
This study investigated perceptions and behavioral patterns related to urban green space (UGS) in Italian cities, during the period of national lockdown imposed due to the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 in the spring of 2020. A survey was used to examine the responses of population groups in different municipal areas, comparing those in government-defined "red zones", mostly in the northern regions of the country, with "non-red zones" in the rest of the country, where the rate of infection was much lower. A total of 2100 respondents participated in the survey. The majority of respondents declared themselves to be habitual users of UGS, especially of parks or green areas outside the town - mainly visiting for relaxation and physical exercise, but also for observing nature. In the northern regions people more commonly reported the adoption of sustainable practices, in terms of the utilization of tools for "green mobility". During the lockdown, habits changed significantly: only one third of respondents reported visiting UGS, with frequent visits made mainly for the purpose of walking the dog. Other motivations included the need for relaxing, mostly in the red zones, and for physical exercise in non-red zones. The reduction in travel to urban parks was accompanied by increased visitation of gardens and other green spaces in close proximity, as social distancing and other regulations imposed restrictions on movement. In all regions, respondents who could not physically access UGS expressed a feeling of deprivation which was exacerbated by living in towns located in red zones, being a usual visitor of UGS and having no green view from the window. The extent to which these visitors missed UGS depended on the frequency of visitation before the pandemic and the UGS distance, as well as the type of previous activity. In fact, those activities that were most common before the pandemic were missed the most, reinforcing the importance of green areas for social gathering, sports, and observing nature - but simply "spending time outdoors" was also mentioned, even by those who visited UGS during the lockdown, as the time outdoors was not enough or not fully enjoyed. The feeling of missing UGS was only partially alleviated by the green view from the window - only a more open view to a natural landscape or adaptation to a view with little greenery reduced such feeling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Ugolini
- Institute of BioEconomy - National Research Council, via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Luciano Massetti
- Institute of BioEconomy - National Research Council, via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - David Pearlmutter
- Institute of BioEconomy - National Research Council, via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
- Department of Geography and Environmental Development, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus 84990, Israel
| | - Giovanni Sanesi
- Department of Agro-Environmental Sciences, University of Bari, Via Amendola, 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy
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Pamukcu-Albers P, Ugolini F, La Rosa D, Grădinaru SR, Azevedo JC, Wu J. Building green infrastructure to enhance urban resilience to climate change and pandemics. LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY 2021; 36:665-673. [PMID: 33686321 PMCID: PMC7930103 DOI: 10.1007/s10980-021-01212-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2021] [Accepted: 02/08/2021] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Francesca Ugolini
- Istituto per la Bioeconomia – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Daniele La Rosa
- Dipartimento Ingegneria Civile e Architettura, Università Di Catania, Catania, Italy
| | - Simona R. Grădinaru
- Centre for Environmental Research and Impact Studies, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
| | - João C. Azevedo
- Centro de Investigação de Montanha, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, Bragança, Portugal
| | - Jianguo Wu
- School of Life Sciences, School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ USA
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